By now there is a sturdy probability you have heard a couple of man in Washington, D.C., who stands accused of what’s, in the meanwhile, arguably probably the most highly-publicized crime within the metropolis.
On Sunday, Sean Dunn—who, on the time, was an worker for the Justice Division—threw a Subway sandwich at a cop and was subsequently charged with felony assault of a federal legislation enforcement officer. His arrest comes as 500 federal brokers and 800 Nationwide Guard troops have been infused into the district after President Donald Trump took federal management of D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Division (MPD).
However the sandwich story—which already feels prefer it might’ve performed out on Veep—took one other flip Wednesday when the federal authorities despatched “20 cops to [Dunn’s] residence” to rearrest him on a federal warrant, in accordance to his legal professional Sabrina Shroff. A video launched by the White Home corroborates that account, with the clip exhibiting a big federal legislation enforcement presence, full with riot gear, arriving at Dunn’s condominium complicated and main him out in handcuffs.
???? Nighttime Routine: Operation Make D.C. Secure Once more Version pic.twitter.com/ngZsbgBpcz
— The White Home (@WhiteHouse) August 14, 2025
There are a few takeaways right here. One: Individuals nonetheless go to Subway. Didn’t know that. Two: The federal government’s disproportionate response to this offense epitomizes why Trump’s plan seems to be, at the least for now, extra political theater than an actual solutions-oriented strategy.
A few of this debate has targeted on whether or not or not crime is definitely an issue in D.C. It’s, however the image is extra sophisticated than many wish to admit. Whereas some have been fast to furnish violent crime statistics which are at a 30-year low, it’s tough to belief these numbers within the context of an investigation alleging the MPD misclassified numerous crimes to make town seem safer than it’s. A evaluate of homicides—against the law that may’t simply be misclassified—is extra instructive: In 2024, D.C. reported 187, down from 274 in 2023. (This 12 months, town has reported 101 homicides up to now, down from 113 throughout the identical interval final 12 months.) It is trending in the correct route.
However one homicide continues to be one too many, and a few neighborhoods—primarily Wards 7 and eight throughout the Anacostia River—disproportionately battle to get crime below management. Police clearance charges, in the meantime, are abysmal: Regulation enforcement in 2024 made an arrest in simply 60 % of homicide circumstances and 31 % of non-fatal shootings. In different phrases, if you happen to kill or shoot somebody, there is a actually good probability you will get away with it. (That drawback, nonetheless, is a nationwide one.)
Put in a different way, there’s work to be achieved. Crime is a major problem. And severe issues demand severe options: the place assets are focused and used successfully to discourage—and resolve—crimes that violently infringe on the rights of others. It isn’t severe, then, to make use of assets to patrol Georgetown, one of many most secure neighborhoods in D.C., or the Nationwide Mall, the place crime is a rarity, whereas the highest-crime neighborhoods have reportedly not but seen an elevated legislation enforcement presence. Or to ship almost two-dozen authorities brokers to rearrest somebody accused of throwing a sandwich, as a substitute of simply letting him flip himself in for his look in federal courtroom.
Allowing Dunn to do this would have conserved assets, maybe permitting legislation enforcement to do one thing extra helpful. It could have disadvantaged Trump of a public relations alternative, nonetheless, as seen with the digicam crew the federal government dropped at the arrest. The White Home needed to remind folks that they imply enterprise. Satirically, they did the other.
